Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Even though the Wii is barely past its infancy stages, many can't help but wonder when the system's successor is coming out. As of now, those of us at Nintendo Wii Fanboy are content to put that question on the backburner and simply enjoy what we have in the present. Analysts are always hungry for this type of speculation, though, and Pacific Crest Securities has decided to throw their opinion into the ring.

So, what's their guess? According to PCS, Nintendo's next platform will be out by 2010. Evan Wilson of the firm stated, "We believe that peak industry sales will occur in 2010, given that Microsoft will likely introduce its next console that year and Nintendo will likely launch before then."

Now, we're not pretending to be analysts (okay, maybe a little bit), but we couldn't disagree more. We think the Wii will have a longer lifespan than three-and-a-half years, based on its current popularity and past systems' life cycles. Considering also that much of the Wii's success can be credited to the casual market, releasing a new console so soon wouldn't be a smart business decision. While core gamers and Nintendoholics would gobble it up, casuals would probably be more wary about dropping another few hundred dollars on a video game console in such a short amount of time.

The firm's analysis brings up another interesting question -- will Nintendo release its next console before Microsoft? While we agree that Sony will be the last to upgrade its hardware, it shouldn't be taken for granted that Nintendo will be first, especially since the company seems to be in no rush.

[Via Games Industry]

Nintendo consoles have usually enjoyed a five-year life span, Iwata explained during a Japanese conference documenting the Q3 earnings of the company. During this briefing, Iwata spoke of the new gift-giving feature and TV guide Channel, but what was overlooked until now was his comments regarding how long of a life the Wii will have.

"As we continue our research and study for new hardware, when we will be able to launch a new kind of hardware will actually depend on when we can change entertainment completely, and so have a strong impact on people around the world," he said. "Or, there will certainly be a time when we have to say that we have done everything possible with the current machine, that we can never propose anything new."

Iwata further explains that fresh hardware is often the result of the company needing a new weapon in the fight against other consoles. With the Wii, however, he feels that the company won't be needing any new weapons for quite some time, stating "But today's situation is such that we are not desperate for any new weapons at all."

So, could the Wii be the first console to break the tradition of a five-year lifespan, even though its hardware is considered by the mainstream to be weaker than its competition? The way Iwata is talking, and the fact that it could be almost 2 years before the supply meets the demand for the console, makes it sound like it could very well be a reality.

[Via Aussie-Nintendo]